Single Daddies

By Laran Mithras

Nataly, soft-hearted and charitable, comes to the rescue of two fathers who are late for work. Rob and Truman are single daddies and appreciative of her help. However, Nataly gets sucked into their lives and the challenges they both face.

Buddy, Nataly's vain husband, approves of her making male friends. In this way, he can show her off to them and feed his insatiable narcissism. Though loving his wife, seeing her drawn into a mutual web of seduction is satisfying to him.

Truman, single daddy and on the run from a vindictive ex father in law, needs time for the judge to rule he has sole physical and legal custody of his son.

Rob, widower daddy, is drinking himself into a deeper depression. He has nowhere to turn and can't even look at his daughter for fear of seeing his dead wife.

Nataly, caught up in the swirl of drama and life, finds herself attracted not only to her husband, but also the two lonely fathers.

Dating a single dad is difficult.

Dating two single dads is much more complicated.

Being comfortably married to another man and dating two other men makes things almost impossible.

Can anything good come out of the relationships of such fractured people?

When love wants a way, it finds a way.

A single daddy urban fantasy that is all too eerily real and possible. 118 Standard Paperback pages.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Laran Mithras
• Release date: Aug 21, 2019
• ISBN: 9781386803515

Laran Mithras

I write sexy stories that skate along the edge of modern relationships. I don't like cliffhangers, endless chapters, or ongoing fighting and misunderstanding until the last page of the book. So, I don't write those in my books. Many authors think they're being edgy and have an alpha-male alien who's never heard of Earth running around saying, Jesus Christ! every two pages. Ridiculous. So, yeah, I don't do that, either. No religious expletives in my books.I write from the standpoint of realism. My heroes and heroines are normal people who make the extraordinary leap to sexual and emotional fulfillment. Most of my stories are HEAs and are designed to provoke a deeper thought about where we stand with our relationships.I don't live with two dogs or cats who rule my life; I have two pet rats. Yeah, really.Comments on stories or other questions can be directed to: [e-mail]. Connect with me on Facebook: Laran Mithras. Happy reading!

Book preview

Love is spontaneous and uncontrollable. It grows like a weed and happens at all the wrong times.

Sometimes it is singular; sometimes it scatters.

Both are strong.

Neither is wrong.

––––––––CHAPTER 1

Up the street, the school bus began to slide sickeningly on the ice.

Amidst gasps from the adults standing around me at the bus stop, the image of young faces pressed against the bus windows was almost... comical.

Heart pounding, I saw several children on the bus with bright, excited eyes – thrilled that something cool was happening on a typical morning bus ride.

As if on cue, the gaggle of moms standing at the curb raised their phones and aimed.

The big yellow bus slowly slid sideways. It wasn't travelling any more than ten miles an hour – due to the ice. A popping crunch told us the back end had made contact with one of the parked cars. That somewhat gentle impact brought the bus to a stop.

One of the fathers who had lately begun standing with us muttered, Oh... that's just great.

The boy holding his hand jumped up and down. Is it going to blow up?

Another father snickered.

Rachel looked up at me. Is it, mommy?

No, it's just a little fender-bender.

The other boy looked at me. They always blow up on TV.

Both of the fathers checked their watches.

The one that snickered said, I'm already going to be late. Closing Route 4 for bridge repair adds a half hour—

The father with the jumping boy said, Yeah, me too. And they're estimating a six month project.

F... He cleared his throat, not finishing the expletive in front of kids.

One of the other little kids whispered. I bet he was going to say fuck.

There was a jerk by the parent on the child's hand.

One of the fathers shook his head and lifted his hand in futility. He let it drop. I'm going to need a helicopter to get to work... How long is the guy going to sit there?

I said, He's calling it in. They'll likely get a tow truck to pull the bus away from the car so it doesn't do any more damage. And probably send another bus to transfer the kids to and... Just talking to the two handsome fathers made me feel thrilled. Only the gaggle around Monica ever really talked.

A few parents near me who had lived here for a long time nodded. Others groaned.

Both newer fathers were frantically shaking their heads.

One had been in the neighborhood for almost six months. He was a tall man, very thin, with dark hair. He was slightly bloodshot around the eyes. The other was shorter, more muscular, with buzzed hair. He was a new arrival within the last month.

The thin one said, I can't wait...

The muscular one said, I can't, either.

Seeing their distress flipped that switch in me that my husband called a charitable heart. I said, I'm Nataly; I live right there? I pointed. I can chaperone your two if you need to get going. I'll make sure they get on the bus safely.

The thin one immediately looked relieved. Would you?

My daughter pointed. She's Penny; she's very nice. Sometimes we sit together.

The man's daughter was silent, looking at everything with big eyes.

I nodded reassuringly to the man.

He held out his hand to shake. I'm Rob. I live up the street there—

I know. Across from Dawn. I gently shook his hand.

He looked stunned that I knew.

Monica, the busybody brunette standing near us said not so quietly, I don't think anything gets by... her. She had called me a hawk before.

I ignored the sarcasm. I offered my hand to Penny with a smile.

Rob transferred hands and sank down to squat. He looked at his daughter and a shadow came over his face. He looked away from her when he gave her a hug. Daddy needs to get to work.

Her little voice was as thin as he was. Okay.

He rose and looked at me, then away. Hey, thank you.

It's really not a problem.

The muscular man was frowning at me.

I offered, I can wait with your son, too?

He regarded me with suspicious eyes for a few seconds and gave the departing Rob a rueful look. Yeah... I really would appreciate it. His eyes flashed back to me. Just make sure he gets on the bus. No one but me has any right to come along and claim—

I was shaking my head. No, I would never just hand over someone's child. You don't need to worry about that with me.

He sighed, wearily. I'm Truman, by the way. Sorry to sound so... He held out his hand.

I shook it.

Up the street, a tow truck appeared, yellow lights flashing. It stopped in the middle of the street near the bus and just sat there.

Truman stared at it and shook his head. He made a noise of disgust. He turned back to me. My son is Tyler...

I waved down at the boy's upturned face. Hi Tyler.

He said to his son, Behave and get on the bus.

The boy bubbled, Maybe the next bus will slide, too!

Great...

I laughed and included the boy in my little group.

He looked at me. You were...?

Nataly.

Nataly, right. His eyes dropped down to my left hand and wedding ring. Okay, well, I better go...

I said brightly, Bye.

His walk away was brisk and became brisker as the slope increased up the hill. He looked like he was in quite a hurry. Maybe even to catch up to distant Rob.

I touched each child's shoulder or head to impress that they were with me and safe. Inside me, that familiar sense of satisfaction twined around my soul. I loved helping people. Sometimes my husband had to stop me from gathering too much clothing from what we had to give to the Salvation Army.

Other people weren't as fortunate as us. Others needed warm clothes during the snows of winter here. Others needed food to eat, too.

Buddy's voice startled me. I wondered what you were doing out here. He was peering up the street. The tow truck had not moved. Ah, slip-sliding to school eh? Or maybe he's drunk.

Just ice. Nothing unusual.

A little further up, a blue Jeep pulled out of a garage on the street.

That would be Truman... I said to my husband, I met the two new fathers. I'm watching their kids for them so they can get to work.

He stroked his short beard and smiled. Oh yeah?

I knew his playful tone; he loved showing me off, as he called it. He liked it when other men looked at me because he said it proved he was the better man – that he had married such a beautiful woman.

Whatever his reason, I liked that a lot better than my first clingy boyfriend who was so insanely jealous that I couldn't go pee without him pounding on the door demanding to know if I was texting someone. But that was three years ago in another town.

Another bus approached up the street, driving slowly. It stopped and the Stop arm came out. The transfer began taking place.

Buddy gave Monica, the busybody brunette, a sneering once over. He slipped his arm around my waist as he checked her out.

The woman saw him looking and looked away, chin in the air as if she was better than him.

I wasn't bothered; my husband was nuts over my natural auburn hair. Monica didn't stand a chance with him and I think she knew it - even if she pretended otherwise. The games weren't much different than high school.

Buddy said, Brr. I'm going back inside. He gave me a kiss to the cheek. He wasn't dressed for the chill air.

I looked down at my daughter. Rachel, honey, let the other children get on first when the bus comes.

Why?

"Their fathers put